When that was unlocked, she combined Earth, Fire, and Earthenware Clay to unlock Lead as another metal she could use as a material. Then, when that was available, Sandra was able to combine Natural, Fire, and Lead Orbs (as well as 15,000 Mana) together to unlock the Ash Seed to produce another type of tree – and another type of wood when it was grown in her growing room.
Sandra thought it was interesting how everything was interconnected in some sort of giant web; to gain access to something, she needed to have had unlocked quite a few other things in the process. She had gotten lucky finding or creating so many of her materials earlier, or else the whole unlocking ordeal would’ve likely taken much longer.
While she was at it and unlocking different materials, she went ahead and gained access to Stoneware Clay with Earth and Iron Orbs; Jute Seed with Natural Orbs and Oak wood; and Cotton Seed with Natural Orbs and Maple wood (once her Maple tree was grown enough to harvest and gain access to its wood type). She held off on planting the Jute and Cotton Seeds, however, until she was prepared to turn them into usable thread/rope; it was a much lengthier process to turn the plants into usable material than just growing and harvesting the trees. The Flax and Linen Thread was more than enough proof of that.
All in all, it had been a productive two days. Sandra had now acquired access to every single material that didn’t possess the “unknown” materials needed to unlock them with her new Elemental Transmutation skill – and then unlocked the larger Monster Seed versions of each type of wood, clay, and Lead metal. She figured she could experiment a little with different combinations of her materials to unlock the others, but they would also require quite a bit of an investment of Mana. Therefore, before she did anything like that, she decided that it was probably about time to endure the crushing loneliness and isolation that upgrading her Core Size always seemed to bring.
To hopefully stave off some of that and bring back some of the familiarity that she had been missing in her last upgrade, she spent a little time – as well as Mana and Raw Materials – creating some constructs to stay near her during that time. It wasn’t much, compared to what she had in some of her defensive rooms, but she thought it would be enough.
Two dozen Singing Blademasters were set up in a loose sphere around her Core, far enough away that they weren’t a danger to her – but hopefully well within her perception during the upgrade. Sandra instructed them to move slowly in random directions, only making sure not to run into each other in the process and had them spin and “sing” at different times. She was hoping that if they were random enough, it would give her something to focus on and try to anticipate – rather than concentrate on her trapped consciousness. Winxa also volunteered to keep her company again, so with all of those things, she figured she was as prepared as she was going to get.
Before she initiated the upgrade, Sandra put up another super-intense, Fire-fueled trap in front of the large entrance tunnel leading into her Home from where she had multiple Iron-plated Behemoths waiting to defend her. While a potential attack from the Elves wasn’t supposed to come for another week and a half – at least – it didn’t hurt to be careful. When everything was as ready as it was going to get, she waited for her Mana to fill up again and started the upgrade.
Her perception faded again, shrinking down to just a small area that comprised only about a third of the way to the edges of her large Home room. Fortunately, her Singing Blademasters were well within that area, so her temporary confinement was provided with strangely satisfying entertainment. The constructs were moving slowly in a random direction, while staying in a loose sphere around her a little more than 10 feet away; every once in a while, one of the Blademasters would start spinning and let out its high-pitched whine, which changed in tone when it moved in a different direction. It only lasted between 10 and 15 seconds, but it was enough to distract her.
Winxa made a game of it. “Let’s see…I think it’ll be that one right there,” she would say, pointing at a particular construct. The Dungeon Fairy was trying to guess which one would be next to “sing” and encouraged Sandra to play along. After seeing how much fun her friend was having, she joined in.
Very rarely would either the Dungeon Fairy or Core be correct in their guess, but when they were it was a cause for celebration. Well, at least Winxa spun and danced around in the air when she got one correct; Sandra couldn’t do anything or even communicate which ones she chose, so her own celebrations were in her mind. Regardless, the game passed the time and before she knew it, Sandra’s Core Size upgrade was complete.
Core Size Upgrade Stage complete!
11/11 Completed
Your Core has grown!
Current Size: 19
Mana Capacity increased!
Raw Material Capacity increased!
New Constructs option!
Core Selection Menu
Dungeon Classification:
Constructs
Core Size:
19
Available Mana:
16/15646
Ambient Mana Absorption:
10/hour
Available Raw Material (RM):
6500/41608
Convert Raw Material to Mana?
6500 RM -- > 260 Mana
Current Dungeon Monsters:
14576
Constructs Creation Options:
17
Monster Seed Schematics:
133 (3)
Current Traps:
31
Trap Construction Options:
All
Core-specific Skills:
5
Current Visitors:
1
Rather than be disappointed that she didn’t receive another Core-specific skill like the last upgrade, she was happy that she got another Construct that she could make and that her maximum Mana had increased. She was waiting to finish off the rest of her rooms with traps when she acquired more Mana, and now she thought that 15,000 Mana would be more than enough to make them effective – and hopefully deadly toward anyone meaning her harm.
“So, what did you end up with? I got seven correct!” Winxa asked, breaking Sandra from her thoughts. The Dungeon Core was confused for a few moments before she figured out what the Fairy was talking about: guessing which Blademaster would “sing” next.
I only ended up with six – nice job! Thanks for keeping me company again; if you don’t mind me asking, how long was it this time?
“You’re welcome – it was actually kind of fun. And it was just a few hours over two days that you were under; if I remember correctly, the time you’ll be out only increases by a little bit by the time you hit Core Size 20, which I’m sure you’re very glad to know,” Winxa responded.
That was good news, though this last upgrade hadn’t been as excruciating as the one before it. Sandra figured she would need to do something similar in the future to entertain herself – and Winxa, if she was there – to make the time go by quicker. That seemed to be the key; if she could distract her mind and make her forget about her – albeit, temporary – helplessness and loneliness, then everything would be fine.
She was just about to check out her new Construct Option, but – as seemed usual by then – something else caught her attention.
Chapter 12
What is this I’m feeling along the edges of my Area of Influence, Winxa?
“Uh…could you be more specific? I don’t understand,” the Dungeon Fairy replied with confusion and maybe even a little alarm in her voice.
When I concentrate on the underground extremities of where I can reach now with my expanded Area of Influence, I can feel a slight resistance in certain areas. I can push through it quite easily, but I’ve never felt that before.
Winxa seemed as though she might have an idea when she asked, “Where exactly do you feel these ‘resistances’?”
Sandra roamed all around her perimeter and tried to isolate where she was feeling them. The closest one was to the south and slightly east; look
ing at the extensive underground roots of the forest to the east of the Elven village, she could feel it almost as an invisible curved “bubble” that took a slight effort to pass through.
That wasn’t the only one, however; she could feel other ones to the west in the forest separating the Elven and Orcish lands, one to the north and a little east at the border forest between the Orcish and Dwarven territories, and a third far to the east in the forest dividing the Dwarven and Gnomish lands. It was unusual enough to also note that reaching that far now meant that her Area of Influence had increased dramatically with her last upgrade. In fact, from what she could tell, it now included the entire wasteland area.
Passing through the “bubbles” didn’t really do anything; as soon as she was through them, she could move her vision anywhere underground that her Influence could reach. Which wasn’t far even for the closest spot she came across. Sandra explained where they were located as well as she could to Winxa, who seemed at first shocked and then somehow unsurprised shortly thereafter.
“What you’re detecting is the Area of Influence of another dungeon. The ‘bubble’ you’re describing is the perimeter of it, just like your own perimeter and how far you can reach. If you’re able to go far enough, you’re likely to run into the dungeon themselves.”
Why did you look shocked? I would think this would be very common.
“Well, yes – encountering the border of another Core’s Area of Influence happens all the time; the difference here, though, is your ability to pass through the border. Only Cores with the same element can actually pass their viewpoint through another’s border, which makes it very rare since the Creator now ensures there aren’t any similar-element dungeons near each other when they are placed. Dungeon Monsters can pass through any of them, but only a small portion of the ambient Mana or Mana from the deaths of living beings will be absorbed in any overlap – unless, again, they’re the same element, then it is a full 50% split between the two Cores.
“It’s also another reason that Dungeon Monsters don’t typically fight over territory, as it doesn’t matter even if they win – because it wouldn’t get them much in the long run. Typically, Dungeon Cores are spaced far enough apart that only when they are quite upgraded in Size will they actually encounter the border of another Core – and by that time, the overlap really doesn’t matter because it’s difficult for them to fill their entire territory with Dungeon Monsters, anyway.”
Wait a minute – if they’re so blood-thirsty and willing to kill anything to get stronger, wouldn’t they just try to destroy the other Cores near them and take over the full use of the overlapping Area of Influence?
“If they weren’t constrained by their contract from attacking the dungeon of any other contracted Dungeon Core, I would say you’d be correct. As it is, though, there’s rarely a reason for them to waste their resources on attacking another dungeon; since they don’t receive any Mana from killing a foreign Dungeon Monster – nor can the Monster Seeds they leave behind be absorbed – there’s very little benefit in it. Unless, just like the absorption of ambient Mana, they are the same element – then they can actually take the Seed back to their dungeon and absorb it for both Mana and Raw Materials, as well as unlocking the use of it as a Monster Seed if it wasn’t previously accessible,” Winxa answered matter-of-factly, before she cocked her head to the side in thought.
What?
“Oh, nothing – it just occurred to me that your special situation means that essentially any Core’s Area of Influence barrier won’t really hinder you or the other Core, so that you can both pass freely amongst each other’s territory.”
I can see that, but why is that significant?
Winxa spoke slowly, as if she was testing her words to see if they would cause her to be seen as giving advice. “Well, do you remember what I said about the contract Dungeon Cores have to abide by regarding attacking another Core?” Sandra indicated that she did. “Ok, so that only applies to attacking another contracted Core – which, if you remember, you definitely are not. Therefore, what that means is that it’s entirely possible that they could attack you.”
So, in addition to being concerned about being attacked by the Elves in a couple of weeks, as well as watching out for the Orcs still, I have to worry about the other Cores when they expand their Areas of Influence so that they can reach me?
The Dungeon Fairy hesitated for a moment before she answered. “Yes…and no. What I failed to mention before about same-element dungeons being next to each other is the main reason why you don’t find them like that anymore; it hasn’t really happened for at least a millennium, so it didn’t really occur to me until now. One special aspect of the pairings is that whichever Dungeon Core has the smallest Core Size has access to the entire Area of Influence of the other – though they cannot change anything underground, so you don’t have to worry about them digging a hole all the way to you. Don’t ask me why this ability exists, because it doesn’t make much sense; the only reason I can think of is if it was some sort of method the Creator had designed to have Cores ‘mentor’ their neighbors, thereby making them more effective. My guess is that it was too effective and needed to be stopped, which is why it doesn’t occur anymore.”
Uh…so you’re saying that I could be attacked by hordes of Dungeon Monsters at any time?
“Well, not necessarily. If they are a higher Core Size than you, then you don’t really have anything to worry about for now.”
But didn’t you say that I would have access to their entire Area of Influence if I was a lower Core Size? Because I can tell you that isn’t the case here.
“Oh, well then yes, you’re in a bit of trouble. Then again, the fact that you don’t have a contract could make a difference; I’m not entirely sure if it’s a ‘contracted’ ability or not.”
Regardless, I need to prepare for even more now.
Sandra wasn’t sure how long it would be before the nearby Cores figured out she was there, but she needed to prepare. Since Winxa said they couldn’t just dig a hole all the way to her – fortunately – she only really had to worry about them coming in the entrance aboveground. The problem was, she had no idea exactly what was coming her way; she only had her memories of the monsters the Human Heroes would talk about for reference. She remembered the different Classifications she had been able to choose in the beginning of her new existence as a Dungeon Core, but those were only generalizations.
Therefore, she went straight to work designing what she wanted in her fourteenth room, which was set up just after her room filled with lava. She had filled it full of Mechanical Wolves and Jaguars earlier, so she decided to take advantage of their speed and stealth, respectively. To that end, she expanded the room she already had and used quite a bit of Mana to encase the entire room in a very thin steel plating, fusing the metal to the walls, floor, and ceiling of the 100X100X20-foot space.
Then, using even more of her incoming Mana from the sky aboveground, she extended dozens of lattice-like columns of shiny steel up to the ceiling. The biggest difference between a real lattice – which was comprised of crisscrossing bands in a uniform pattern – and her creations, however, was that the cut-out shapes in the tall columns weren’t perfectly square. Instead, they were all twisted up in different directions, going every which way in a confusing blend.
Inside the columns, Sandra left holes spaced out almost randomly all along the length of them. When they were all built and complete, she had her shiny Mechanical Jaguars climb the columns and squeeze themselves into the holes, blending in almost perfectly as they clamped down on the “lattice” with their paws and held unnaturally still. Since they didn’t breathe or need anything on them to move to survive, they almost looked like part of the columns themselves; Sandra thought that it was only because she knew they were there that she saw them.
For her Wolves, she left a circular area in the middle of the room clear and placed them in specially made holes near the bottom of the columns surrounding i
t, where they could emerge from a hidden “pocket” underneath the floor and rush towards anyone passing through. They would be able to attack and retreat without having to worry about looking for a place to hide, because there were eight of the hidden refuges they could find safety.
As for why the entire room was made of steel, it was because of the trap she was going to place there. It required her to wait for her Mana to fill up completely to place, but it was more than worth it in the end – and what would hopefully be the end of anyone (or anything) trying to invade. By combining the Natural and Water elements together – and using one of the hidden Wolves as the catalyst – she was able to create an extremely potent acid that would spray out of the columns at different heights depending upon where they were triggered.
What took the most Mana was her activation triggers, because she was started to think about what types of Monsters might be coming to invade her dungeon. If they were capable of flight – for example – they wouldn’t be stopped by many of her previous traps; sure, there were a couple that would be hard to avoid entirely, but not impossible. In this room, however, the horrifically strong acid would spray at any height out of the columns because the activation triggers were flat planes that went from floor to ceiling. Unless they were small enough to avoid the triggers completely and fly/crawl through the lattice-like columns, of course – but if they were that small, then they were either not much of a threat or else something that would have to be killed a different way.
The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2) Page 10
